


To Break the Cycle of Distrust

by Lilili_cat



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 17:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19155556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilili_cat/pseuds/Lilili_cat
Summary: It takes unlikely events to break the cycle of distrust.





	To Break the Cycle of Distrust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ValidAsshole](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValidAsshole/gifts), [drelfina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drelfina/gifts).



> Ended up being more introspective than outright angsty. Ah well. Enjoy anyways. :)

**To Break the Cycle of Distrust**  
  
He awakens to an ache in his ribs and blood in his mouth. The acrid musty air sits heavy in his lungs, and the rocks beneath him dig into his side like kunai. For a moment, for a brief moment that he will forever deny to anyone who asks (if he manages to leave this wretched place alive), all he can do is stare at the cracked jagged ceiling and wonder if, at last, the shinigami has come for him.

The moment passes, and Izuna slowly rolls over, gasping as his jagged ribs grind and creak as he forces himself to his feet through sheer innate stubbornness. He takes inventory of his body and of his belongings and then mentally counts and recounts to 10. The brief moment of meditation is enough to center him and begin him on the task of retracing his steps.

Other than the broken ribs, he has been lucky. The rockfall has sealed the tunnel he had escaped through and blocked off his pursuers. He is clear for now, though not for long, and he must count himself lucky that one of his ribs did not puncture his lungs or his heart.

Carefully, slowly, he moves his chest forward just the tiniest amount...and is forced to immediately freeze from the sharp pain that stabs through his chest. So then. It is as he thought. He will not be able to move quickly, and the journey he must undertake will be long and arduous.

His ears catch the faint sound of pursuit, and he would laugh if that movement wouldn't cause him to cry out with the pain.

Not so lucky after all, he thinks. He must leave and soon or else they will catch him. And if they do...

The mission is a failure at any rate. And while he would usually take comfort in the fact that the fault (as is typical) lies with intel and not his performance, it is of no comfort now. He is too injured to move quickly, and speed is of essence.

With grim determination, Izuna rips a strip out of his shirt and binds his ribs as best as he can. From his angle, it is an awkward endeavor, but he has little choice. He needs to make it back to his clan, to stop his brother's foolishness if nothing else. Because in the days leading up to his disastrous mission, he had seen his brother begin to waver again.

The letters from that damnable Senju Hashirama are coming with more frequency now, and without Izuna by his side, he fears his older brother will soon crack to the man's demands.

Peace. Cessation of fighting. A chance for the youth to grow up unburdened by war. Safety.

If it were any other clan, Izuna would have been cautiously accepting.

But it is not any other clan. It is the Senju, and they are too strong to trust.

Izuna dares not trust them.

He is the younger surviving brother of the main line of the Uchiha, and he adores his elder brother with all his heart. His beloved Aniki is strong, resolute and a great protector for the clan. But while Izuna loves him, he is not blind to the other man's faults. Madara lives with his head in the clouds and dreams of peace with their ancestral enemy.

As if they can trust any clan to not take advantage of their relative strength, Senju Hashirama's promises notwithstanding.

(Izuna is not foolish. Madara himself acknowledged that Hashirama is stronger, and Izuna knows he is just ever so slightly weaker than his own Senju rival.)

He has done his best to dissuade him, but Aniki was nothing else if not just as stubborn as he and filled with the foolish ideals of his youth to boot. Madara has denied it, but Izuna knows his dear Aniki may well jeopardize the safety of their clan if he is blinded enough by the constant letters of reassurance.

And that, Izuna cannot accept.

He _must_ return to forestall such an outcome. He _must_ return to prevent such a mistake. He must. There is no other choice.

And so Izuna grits his teeth through the pain and forces himself forward, one wrenching, agonizing step at a time.

It is a shame that he did not succeed in his mission, but his clan's future is more important than some rumored dusty scroll, even if that scroll supposedly holds secrets pertinent to his clan.

He will escape. He will do it. He will return to the clan and stop his brother from dooming the entirety of the Uchiha for the sake of honeyed words and childhood dreams.

-~&~-

Senju Tobirama mutters an oath as he darts through the dark tunnels of this accursed mine that happens to be the only escape route from this accursed botched mission. The intel was wrong because _of course_ it was. It always is. The scroll wasn't where it should have been, and the noble who supposedly possessed said scroll was not the easy noble he should have been either. His bodyguards had also had far more training than was typical. _Multiple affinities, the ability to use some heavy chakra techniques_...if it weren't for the weapons they favored and their clear familiarity with kenjutsu over taijutsu and ninjutsu, he would've said they were shinobi no mono.

Even so, even fighting far more dangerous opponents than he expected and a “noble” who was fairly skilled at kenjutsu and taijutsu himself, Tobirama might have been able to accomplish his goal nevertheless if they hadn't apparently prepared for precisely his skills.

However, they had clearly prepared, from using chakra-muting seals to better mimic lesser warriors to laying lightning traps to strike at his suiton core to burning the air with intense katons in an effort to wrench out any humidity that might remain.

Someone had warned the “noble,” and either the original noble had switched out or this was a trap all along.

He's guessing trap (does the scroll he came such a long distance for even exist?), and Tobirama is rarely wrong when it comes to his instincts.

The question is...which of their current enemies sprung that trap?

Not the Uchiha, for all that Tobirama could have sworn he felt the telltale lightning-smoke chakra of Uchiha Izuna flash for a second right before Tobirama found himself facing hardened warriors. But who else? The Hagoromo favors poisons and are unlikely to have thought up such an intricate scheme. It is not their style. While the Nara could and likely would have come up with something like this...they have no reason to trap him.

Unless they have finally declared for the Uchiha...

It is a possibility, but not one that Tobirama likes. The Senju are currently locked in a war with the Uchiha and while they are ever so slightly stronger, that balance would change should the Nara join in on the side of the Uchiha.

They cannot afford another enemy. Not right now. Not when his brother is so close to his dreams.

Dreams of peace and dreams of a cessation of fighting. Dreams of a chance for the young to grow up without having known constant war and dreams of safety.

He is not sure he truly believes in such a dream himself. It seems too—fantastical—to be true. Their world is the blood-soaked world of the shinobi no mono, and he can envision no other. Safety and peace seems...nice. But unrealistic. Their enemy bays for their blood, and Tobirama will not sacrifice his clan in an unconditional surrender.

He has made Hashirama promise that it will not be an unconditional surrender. His brother is—idealistic. And Tobirama worries that Hashirama's dreams will overcome his sense, and his love for their clan.

And so he has helped draft every letter that Hashirama sends to their ancestral enemy, and he has comforted him through every rejection.

Still, Hashirama dreams, and Tobirama can no more stand against his dreams than he can doom their clan. It is one and the same for him. He loves his elder brother unconditionally. If his brother desires peace, he shall _have_ peace. Just...a fair peace. One that Tobirama will ensure against betrayal of his clan.

Because Hashirama is close.

Tobirama can feel it. Uchiha Madara seems to be wavering, and there were whispers of a scroll with one of the ancient Uchiha secrets on it. Those whispers were enough to send Tobirama on this blasted mission, to seek its hiding place and retrieve it.

If they could have it as a bargaining chip...if they can offer it to the Uchiha as a sign of good faith...it would be something the Uchiha couldn't overlook and couldn't misunderstand. (Tobirama isn't an idiot, he knows that the Uchiha distrust Hashirama) And perhaps then, Hashirama might have his dream.

But right now, he needs to get out of these ridiculous tunnels with his life intact, and, more immediately, he needs to lose the pursuers at his heels.

He speeds through two twists of the tunnel and curses as it seems to narrow. Distantly, he hears what is unmistakably a cave-in of some sort.

Good, he thinks viciously. He hopes the bastards who sprung this trap are crushed in it.

He rounds the bend and finds himself in a fairly sizable cave. With three sharp practiced motions, he notes the jagged overhang, the stalactites, the narrow throat of the tunnel he'd just exited and the sounds of five pairs of feet gaining on him.

So be it then.

This is as good a place as any.

A kunai flies past him, and still running, he throws himself to his side, sliding on the edge of one feet against the dirt floor of the tunnel. Using his momentum alone, he skids around into a quick turn and throws three kunai at the enemy samurai.

The force of his turn adds into the speed of his kunai, and he hears two of them hit their mark with dark satisfaction.

“Come at me you bastards,” he taunts the remaining three.

They burst into the cave, an explosion of red hair and dusty armor. Their lips pull back from their teeth in furious snarls, and they immediately begin to fan out.

Well-trained indeed. His mind instantly recognizes and categorizes the strategy.

Surround and implement a flanking maneuver. It would probably work on a lesser shinobi no mono.

He is no lesser shinobi no mono.

He strains his ears to listen for a telltale sign, any telltale sign. Then...there!

The samurai to his left charges, and he throws himself away, spinning around the charge and grabbing the startled samurai to his right as a counterweight, throwing the man in mid spin to collide right into the charging man in a sharp, bone-breaking crash.

He leaps over the third, cursing as he feels the woman's sword score his right forearm.

Damn, damn, and damn!

“Not so cocky now, are you?” The woman sneers at him, gray eyes steeled on his own.

His lips curl back at her. She must have been in charge of the other two. Infinitely more dangerous to have succeeded in marking him.

He flicks out a brief pulse of chakra at her and frowns.

Lightning chakra tinged with wind. Strength comparable to a shinobi no mono of his clan. With his right arm throbbing, he will not be able to do as much with it, and she is perilous in her own right. It will not be an easy fight.

But he is not known as the fastest shinobi no mono of his generation for nothing.

Tobirama watches as the samurai uses a lightning release...and sparks coat her katana, blue white angles jumping out from sharp blue-silver blade. It is almost pretty, energy dancing along the waze-like edge.

He has no time to admire it. His eyes watch the woman's feet closely as she feints to the left and...

Step and slide!

He pivots, just throwing himself out of the way as the samurai slides right to where he was located but a moment ago, her speed startling.

(So that's how they caught up to him...they must have trained in footwork with almost religious zeal.)

He doesn't have much time for ruminations—she transforms her slide into a smooth turn, slashing just as he anticipated she would, her crackling blade slicing through the air where his head would have been found.

But he is not a lesser shinobi no mono, and he throws himself into a forward glide on his knee-guards, the blade thrusting a mere three centimeters above his upward turned face, just out of range of the deadly electricity coating it.

As the woman's arm comes within reach, he reaches up, grabs it with his uninjured arm and hurls himself onto her, kunai first. His superior weight crashes into her, and he can hear her scream as he slashes the kunai across her belly in a long diagonal swipe.

He follows the motion of his arm, throwing his shoulder into her and hurling her gasping, dying body at the wall of the cave. By the time he finishes his motion and steadies himself on his own two feet, she is dead from the impact.

She is lucky. The belly wound he gave her would have been a much more painful death.

He sinks to his knees for a few moments, desperately catching his breath, but the sounds of more clattering feet has him up with a muttered oath.

He takes one more look at the jagged overhang and, using a doton release, forces the rocks and stalactites to come tumbling down.

The way he came from thus blocked, he rushes to the tunnel at the back of the cave. The samurai will clear the blockage soon.

He cannot afford to wait.

-~&~-

Izuna is hobbling along, dragging himself painfully along the stone and dirt walls that line the tunnel. If he turns, he would see faint trails of blood where his fingers, scraped raw in their attempt to find purchase, have left their mark.

But he doesn't look back. He never does.

To look back is to regret, and he has no time for that. He needs to escape, and every moment he rests, every moment he tarries, he can hear the sounds of pursuit.

They're coming for him. They're coming and he...

He stops at the fork.

He...does not which way to go. To be lost...here...forever...

No!

He will not die as a helpless prey led to the slaughter.

If he must die...if he must...

He will take as many of the bastards down with him as possible.

And so, even though his ribs scream in pain, and he can barely stand from the agony, he readies his Great Fireball Technique. The bastards used suiton against him...let them see if they can handle his katon.

Muscles tense and at the ready, hands readied to form the Tiger, he's completely unprepared when a pale form bursts through the left fork, trailing clouds of murky dust in his wake, and grabs his wrist.

Adrenaline racing through his body, his pain momentarily forgotten, Izuna wrenches his wrist away, quickly forms the Tiger seal and releases his katon.

To his dismay, it flies high and hits the tunnel the man had burst through, sending more rocks tumbling and sealing that exit.

He tries for another katon (close quarters, surely the man can't evade it), but his enemy darts through the dust and pins him to the wall and Izuna can only scream in pain as his ribs are jostled. Even so, he grabs his kunai with his free hand and slashes.

He'll wound the bastard at the very least. He won't be easy prey, he won't. He--

“I am not your enemy right now, Uchiha, though I can't guarantee that if you don't stop _attacking_ me!”

The dust clears and the features of the man register.

Izuna can only stare in slack-jacked shock as Senju Tobirama is revealed before him.

“Senju?!” he asks incredulously, forgetting himself in his bemusement.

He immediately winces as his ribs protest at the rough treatment.

“Uchiha. If I let you go...will you still attack me?”

“Does it _look_ like I can attack?” Izuna growls.

Every motion hurts. _Talking_ hurts. And if he dies here, trapped in this stupid tunnel, with _Senju Tobirama_ of all people as witness...

“I'll take that as a no,” his enemy says dryly.

Slowly, and surprisingly carefully, the Senju releases him, and Izuna is left gasping against the wall.

“You are injured,” Tobirama notes.

If Izuna ignores him.

He really, really hopes the sudden motions didn't stab a rib through his lungs. He really, really hopes his makeshift bandage held well enough.

“You probably won't survive on your own.”

Izuna grits his teeth. The Senju is probably right, and if only he weren't so injured, he could at least take Senju Tobirama down with him.

“Here.”

And then Tobirama puts his hands on him, and Izuna...

Izuna draws his hand back into the form of a fist and even if it kills him, he'll mark that bastard, even if it hurts...

Izuna blinks, and his hand loosens. Senju Tobirama is...his _enemy_ is...

Blue-green glow around pale hands. Sweat-dampened silver hair plastered to a face knit in concentration. And, most importantly, the pain slowly easing, the firmness of his ribs strengthening and hardening...

He doesn't know what to think. He doesn't know what is happening.

Senju Tobirama is...healing?...him.

“It's the best I can do on limited chakra, unfortunately,” his...enemy?...says.

“Limited?” Izuna echoes.

He suddenly notices how tired his enem—Senju Tobirama seems.

It all clicks.

The sounds of pursuit. The noises he had thought he heard earlier.

“You fell into the same trap they laid for me,” he states.

Tobirama nods.

“I do not know if it is the same exact one, but the chance is high.”

“You fought the suiton-using samurai.”

He sees his rival tilt his head.

“Suiton? The ones who faced me primarily used raiton.”

That...isn't good. If the traps were laid out by the same group of people... _and those people knew to individualize for Izuna and Tobirama's respective affinities_...that isn't good at all.

Izuna says as much and is disconcerted to see him agree.

He's not used to seeing _Senju Tobirama_ in such a...non confrontational way.

“Whoever lured us here did so deliberately and with specifically us in mind. That means it will be harder to escape.”

“You're not suggesting we lay down and die here, Senju, are you?” he growls.

Tobirama snorts.

“No, I'm suggesting we join forces. They laid each trap for us separately, and our clans are renowned as bitter enemies. They would not expect us to work together.”

Izuna rolls the idea around in his head and, to his great chagrin, it makes sense.

The enemy of your enemy is a friend. Well, at least not another enemy.

At least not another enemy _for the moment._

“Alright,” he agrees. “We work together for now. Only until we both leave these tunnels.”

He holds out a hand.

His rival's pale hand reaches out and grasps his in return.

“Deal.”

-~&~-

An hour later, Izuna is wondering if he ate something he shouldn't have and is dreaming this entire affair up.

Or if the samurai have already mortally wounded him, and he's hallucinating.

“Give me a drop of your blood.”

Izuna blanches.

“What?! No!”

He gets an unimpressed stare in return. “I need it to weave your Great Fireball into this trap.”

The pale Senju gestures at the sealing trap he's creating on the floor of the tunnel.

“You excel in that, no?”

Izuna blinks, both unnerved by the suggestion and flattered by the compliment.

“My fireball will only negate your own Water Dragon, you know that,” he points out. “And I just heard you muttering about the chakra cost of your Water Dragon!”

The stare doesn't change.

“I've put a balancer in. They'll support instead of canceling each other out, and will be the stronger for it. It should be enough to collapse the entire expanse of tunnel to where we will be once it's triggered.”

“You would bury us with it then!”

And still, the stare doesn't change.

“I've also woven Doton elements in to hold up the tunnel outside the radius of explosion. We will be safe to rest and heal for a bit. It should buy us a few days at least.”

It...makes sense.

Izuna reluctantly (though not as reluctantly as he should have been, and if anyone ever tells Madara, he is _vaporizing_ them) gives his hand over to the prick of the kunai and watches as Senju Tobirama curls his own fingers into the blood to draw the requisite seals with Izuna's blood.

His writing is graceful, even with such an inelegant tool as fingers.

The silence stretches out, and Izuna feels unease prick at his neck. He has never been good with _too_ much silence, just as he has never been good with too much chatter.

“You were well prepared to have brought sealing paper,” he begins an attempt at conversation.

It never hurts to learn a bit more about one's enemy. Even if that person isn't an enemy at the moment.

“Hn,” Senju grunts.

“You always do seem to favor seals in battle. I suppose it is an interest of yours,” he tries again.

“Do shut up, Uchiha.”

Izuna growls, but he wills patience. Even if the Senju is a dour rock with the personality of a...

He swallows.

Patience, he tells himself.

Having nothing better to do, he explores this section of the tunnel. His ribs still sting now and then (Senju had only strengthened it, not healed it completely...he is not quite the healer that his brother was renowned to be and didn't have the reserves), but overall, he is able to move much better now, and he cannot complain about that, at the least.

He absently notes a line of weakness in the wall and follows it to where it ends at the end of the long, long section.

(Of no real consequence really. It will explode in unfortunate ways, but they are already planning on blowing up that section along with their pursuers.)

When Senju is ready, let him find him. He's not going to sit around uselessly, whatever Senju thinks he should do.

At the thought of Senju Tobirama, Izuna feels a headache coming on.

He had thought he knew everything there was to know about the man. As the man's rival on the battlefield, as his near equal (just that bit behind him, just enough and _damn it_ , if only Izuna could have been the stronger—then Madara's dream wouldn't be in vain), Izuna had characterized him as hard, ruthless and consumed with hatred for he and his clan.

But a man consumed with hatred doesn't think rationally. And Senju was first to realize that they were in the same situation and should work together. He even healed Izuna (somewhat, but Izuna can't fault him for not being his elder brother) first, before their agreement!

It was...uncharacteristic.

And now Izuna isn't sure what to think about the man.

He is Izuna's greatest enemy and rival, but...

Izuna places a light hand against his ribs.

A honorable one, yes. And perhaps that honor ran deeper than Izuna had ever credited it.

“Uchiha!” a shout from behind.

He spins around, eyes widening as he sees Tobirama darting toward him.

“Senju?” he asks.

Tobirama gestures behind him.

“They're getting close and moving faster than I anticipated. We must hurry.”

With a great boom, he hears the seal activate. Even as the enemy samurai cry out as they are engulfed in raging water and furious fire, the tunnel begins to collapse toward them.

Shit! The weakness in the wall!

With wide eyes, he turns his head just in time to see that section begin to explode. And if his eyes correctly follow the projected path of the projectiles...

“Senju!” He cries. His hand moves of its own accord, and he grabs at the man and pushes them forward toward safety. The exploding rock misses Senju Tobirama by a hair, and Izuna is smug that he's repaid the earlier healing.

Hah. Senju isn't the only one who can uncharacteristic.

His satisfaction is cut short when a sharp pain stabs into his calf. One of the flying projectiles has embedded itself just as they fall out of the doomed section.

In safety, Izuna chokes and drops to his side at the sharp pain.

“Shit,” he hears Senju mutter. Then, “can you walk?”

Izuna tries, but he collapses as soon as he puts any weight on that leg.

Shit, shit, shit, shit and fuck this entire shitty mission to boot.

“I don't have the chakra or the time to dress that right now,” he hears and...

So he'll be left here to die after all? Their “partnership” ended mere hours after it began?

Fuck Senju as well.

And fuck himself.

Fool, he curses. If he had just let Senju take the blast from the weakened wall...

Why had he wasted precious moments grabbing the man—his enemy—and pushing him towards safety? He should have saved himself!

He squeezes his eyes shut.

 _I'm sorry, Madara,_ he thinks. _I'm sorry, Aniki. I won't come home this time. Please...please don't doom our clan._

His heart is bitter at the knowledge that Senju Tobirama may escape...but he won't.

At the first touch of a kunai-roughened hand, he flinches away.

“Don't pity me,” he says harshly. “If you're going to leave, go already!”

“Go?” he hears Senju ask.

“Yes,” he snarls. “I can't walk like this, and you said it yourself: you don't have the time or chakra to heal it. We allied out of mutual benefit, and my benefit to you has just disappeared. Go! But promise, Senju, if you have any honor at all. Promise me that you'll kill whoever set this trap for us. Make them regret their choices and rue the day they decided to go against both Uchiha and Senju.”

Izuna can trust he would do that at the very least.

“I forgot how melodramatic you Uchiha can be.”

What?

“Don't be ridiculous.”

Izuna's eyes flare open as he feels the man slide an arm around him and begin to lift him up until he's supported by the man's shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

It...it can't be what he's thinking.

There's no advantage...there's nothing to _gain_...

“We agreed, didn't we? That our partnership ends when we both leave together. We haven't left these tunnels yet, and I don't break my word.”

Senju looks grimly down at the sharp rock embedded in Izuna's leg.

“I don't have the time or chakra to properly tend to it, so you'll going to have to bear it for now, I'm afraid. The Doton I tied into the trap will only last another hour, and we must be away from this area before then.”

He gestures at the rock. “If I try to remove it now, you might bleed out if it has cut through any major arteries, so the trek is going to hurt. I...apologize in advance.”

And as they hobble along the more and more broken pathway, narrowly avoiding tripping over uneven dips in the ground, Izuna steals glances at his...partner. And he feels his world shift.

Who are you, Senju Tobirama? He thinks. Who are you that you would go to such lengths...for an enemy?

Senju, he's finding, is not who he expected to be.

Not who he expected to be at all.

-~&~-

An hour later (too much time, but they couldn't afford to stop and they couldn't go too quickly), Tobirama leans his rival against the dusty wall and looks at Izuna's injury critically.

It is bad, but the Uchiha is lucky. No major arteries were punctured, he has just enough chakra left to use one of the few iryo-jutsu he is familiar with. Inwardly, he curses his lack of skill in iryo-ninjutsu. It is his brother's domain, and he has no natural talent with it. He uses far too much chakra to achieve such a mediocre result.

His brother isn't here, however, and he gave his word. He will not leave without Izuna in tow. Besides...he owes the Uchiha now. He heard the blast right before Izuna pushed him out of the way. If the man hadn't taken action...Tobirama would be dead right now. And the Uchiha was injured _because_ of those actions.

But no time for useless reflections. He needs to see to Izuna's leg injury or he risks losing the leg to possible infection. They've stalled long enough.

He unlatches the pack that he perpetually carries with him and rummages through it. The high proof shochu that Hashirama always packs for him he finds immediately. His change of clean clothes take a little longer, and it is with a look of regret that he tears a long strip from his favorite yukata shirt (a present from Touka). Finally, he locates his leather hand-wraps at the very bottom.

“You're going to have bite down on this,” he holds up the hand-wraps to Izuna's bleary eyes.

The man can do nothing except nod in apparent dizziness.

Shit.

He needs to hurry.

Quickly (but carefully, the man is already hurt, no need to exacerbate it), he stuffs the leather between clenched teeth and, with a sharp pull, yanks the sharp stone out.

Despite the leather, Izuna's scream travels far into the tunnels, and Tobirama fears they will have new pursuers in the future. It will take them a few days to dig through the cave-ins he's orchestrated but...who knows how long this tunnel is?

He makes a note to pulse out his chakra to sense them and plan accordingly.

“Fucking Senju, what the hell was that for?!” Izuna growls through leather and clenched teeth.

He ignores the cursing.

“Keep biting,” he orders, unscrewing the shochu.

He can already see Izuna shaking his head, but there's no help for it. He doesn't have anything else to clean the wound properly, and it needs to be disinfected. He grabs the man's arm to hold him still and pours the liquid directly on and around the wound.

Another scream, followed by a litany of very creative curses.

Despite the dire situation, he feels his lips quirk up in amusement. He had no idea Izuna was so...inventive.

“It'll be better soon,” he promises.

“It had better, you albino bastard!”

He huffs.

“Now really,” he drawls. “My parents were married.”

He picks up the clean strip and begins winding it tightly around the wound, weaving iryo-ninjutsu with each rotation.

He remembers Hashirama intoning it to him. A jutsu to stave off infection. A jutsu to encourage faster clotting. A jutsu to knit the tissues together.

As he comes to the end of the strip, he ties it neatly into a tight knot and then checks Izuna's temperature and vitals.

Stabilizing.

Good.

“For someone whose talents seem to be killing vast swathes of my clansmen, you're remarkably handy to have around,” is the observation he's met with.

“Hardly,” he says. “My brother is much better for these matters.”

Izuna's face contorts strangely for a moment, and the man looks resolutely away.

Tobirama blinks, then scowls.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no.

“Just what do you have against my brother?” He asks testily, his ire rising at the man's obvious disdain.

“His influence on my own brother comes to mind,” is the equally testy reply.

Tobirama growls.

“He's trying to create peace between us, you idiot. He's trying to create a future where we won't sacrifice just to kill each other.”

And he cannot believe he is saying those words to Uchiha fucking Izuna.

Izuna stares at him incredulously.

“You can't tell me you actually believe in that tripe!”

Well, no, but that is besides the point.

If Izuna were not injured, Tobirama would likely shake the other man for his obtuseness.

“Whether I believe in it has no bearing on what my brother believes and strives to accomplish. He is clan head, I'll remind you, not me.”

Tobirama watches as Izuna's glares at him. Suspicious little bastard.

He blatantly ignores the tiny voice in his head that points out he is equally suspicious.

“If even _you_ , the clan head's only brother can't even believe in it, then why should we? We're his enemy! And we stand to lose more than you.”

What? He himself made sure Hashirama's letters were quite fair in what they requested and promised. Indeed, his brother is likely to promise more away than is advisable!

“The Senju make ourselves equally vulnerable with Hashirama's proposals.”

“It doesn't matter if the vulnerability is equal!”

Is Izuna suggesting that they would betray their oaths?

“Do you think we have no honor at all?”

If...if Izuna thought that...

Then the Uchiha aren't worth his brother's efforts. His noble brother, who tries so hard, spending days and nights, evenings and sunrises, looking for a solution. Just...looking, ever in the hope of bridging the gap between their two clans. All the while, he trains and protects and always has time for a fond smile for Tobirama and...

Tobirama won't abide it. He won't tolerate the slander against Hashirama.

“Hashirama would never,” he begins hotly.

“It's not about Hashirama or even about honor,” Izuna interrupts. “It's about power!”

Power?

“It's about how you are just that much stronger than we. Even if you don't betray us, even if it sincere, we will be overwhelmed simply because you start off from a stronger position than we do! Any future disagreement, any diversion in goals, and we'll count for nothing.”

And Tobirama...considers it.

Hashirama is stronger than Madara. He is stronger than Izuna. Touka is stronger than Uchiha Hikaku.

If it weren't for Hashirama's dream, they could likely win against the Uchiha. It would be costly, and it would likely be a pyrrhic victory as the other clans swoop in on the weakened Senju clan, but it could be done.

Izuna...may have a point about their relative strength.

“So you're saying that we're fated to continually kill ourselves over nothing because you will not trust us if we are stronger than you, and we will not trust you if you're stronger than us.”

Izuna grimaces.

“I don't see a way around it.”

“You're guaranteeing that we all die. No one ever trusts anyone, nothing is gained except a guarantee of death. Is that what you want?”

“I don't want it, but I don't see any way around it.”

The thing is...neither does Tobirama.

-~&~-

The Senju's (Tobirama, Izuna reminds himself) trap brings them days of rest, though at a steep price. Every day, they venture a bit further through the seemingly endless tunnels and every day, Tobirama spends more and more chakra to hold off infection, to knit together just that bit more of Izuna's leg and to strengthen the bones of his ribs. It is slow-going and painstaking, and the constant use, the snatches of sleep they're able to catch, the careful rationing of their remaining food means they never receive the rest they need to recover their chakra.

Even so, they trudge on, for what else can they do?

And while Tobirama heals him by centimeters, while Tobirama is throwing his chakra to utilize his sensing abilities, while they try to make the hard floor as comfortable as possible and while they try to stave off claustrophobia...they talk.

...about their brothers.

“Wait, your brother does the exact same stupid thing? That entire skipping rocks stunt...”

“Turns out he learned it from _your_ brother. So I blame Madara for it.”

“What? No! Madara only started doing it after the river incident. I think he must have gotten it from _Hashirama_!”

  
  


...about their clans (but nothing sensitive).

“Really? Arranged marriages?!”

“Does your clan not do the same thing?”

“We Uchiha are much more inclined to love matches.”

“Must be nice...”

“Wait, why aren't you engaged then?”

“Father and brother bucked tradition and refused to force me into anything I didn't want.”

“Now whose clan is all soft and romantic—ow!”

  
  


...about things that irritate them.

“The only thing worse than the Elders are mosquitoes!”

“In that, I think we can find agreement.”

“How are they even down here?”

“There was talk of a colony of them mutating and adapting to cave environments. I understand they are extra vicious.”

“Wait, which are we talking about again?”

“Does it matter?”

“Point.”

  
  


...about themselves.

“What would you do if your brother had his way? I think you'd be just as irritated as I.”

“It may surprise you, Uchiha, but I _do_ have other hobbies besides loathing your clan. I'll find something.”

“Sarcasm? And I thought that was beneath you.”

“There's a lot about me you don't know.”

“You're firmly behind your brother then, on this mad idea of peace?”

Izuna can hear Tobirama shift in discomfort.

“I don't know about firm...but he's my elder brother. I'd do anything for him. Don't you feel the same way about Madara?”

Izuna thinks. Yes, he would. He would do anything. Anything but...

“I can't doom my clan for him.”

“And you really believe us to be your doom.”

“I don't want to. You're...you're not so bad. And if you tell anyone I said that, I will roast you in a spit.”

A snort.

“No one would believe me.”

Izuna rolls to his side to face the other man.

“My clan comes first,” he whispers. “Surely you understand that. You're too strong, and I can't take that chance.”

He swallows.

“I'm sorry.”

Senju Tobirama blinks at him, the light from the tiny raiton balls Izuna had made making them glow a comforting red.

“Yeah, I understand.”

-~&~-

They're running out of rations. It's been days, and they're running out of rations and even though Izuna is better, he still can't move too quickly and...

...And Tobirama can sense that the samurai have gotten through the cave-ins (they must have a shinobi with them familiar with Doton, they must!) and are gaining.

They don't have much time left. And while it's occurred to Tobirama to leave Izuna behind like a sensible man would, like a sensible _shinobi no mono_ would--he can't.

It goes beyond saving each other's lives. It goes beyond being forced to be companionable.

Izuna is genuinely likable. If they hadn't been from enemy clans, if they had met under any other circumstances, they would've been friends. Tobirama knows it.

And he's given his word. He won't leave Izuna behind.

He's not just another Uchiha anymore.

But the rations. Their enemies.

Tobirama considers his options.

He's still very drained of his chakra. Perhaps just enough for one more big blast, but then that's it.

“We're going to die in here, aren't we?”

Tobirama scowls at his companion.

“Don't be fatalistic. It doesn't suit you.”

Izuna snorts.

“What a situation to find ourselves in. Life is ironic, isn't it?”

Yes, Tobirama considers. Yes it is.

The two heirs of rival clans dying together in some forsaken tunnel pursued by strange samurai who set a trap for them both...? Beyond ridiculous.

“You know, if Madara did take leave of his senses and accept the peace offer from your brother...I think there are worse clans he could trust.”

Tobirama stares at Izuna in surprise and...

His dark eyes are serious. He really means it.

“I thought you Senju never looked us in the eye?”

Without thinking, Tobirama says the first thing that enters his head. “It's too dangerous for us to. You're untrustworthy.”

The Uchiha jabs him playfully.

“And yet you're looking at my eyes right now.”

And so he is.

“I guess I trust you.”

“I guess I do too.”

Tobirama looks at Izuna and smiles. There are worse people he can be trapped with.

-~&~-

Tobirama hurries him along. They still have that few days lead on the samurai, but Izuna can tell from the worried expression on his rivals face that they don't have long.

It's his fault. His injuries that slow them down. His losing his rations when he first fell that had them sharing Tobirama's.

“Tell me about your brother,” he asks him, during one of their short breaks.

“I already told you about the skipping rocks--”

“No.” Izuna shakes his head. “Tell me what he's like as a person.”

“You mean besides annoying?”

Izuna snorts and lightly taps Tobirama's arm in jest.

“You wouldn't be so devoted to him if he were just that.”

That makes the Senju pause and think.

“He's...like the sun.”

“Okay, I don't need poetry.”

“No! I mean seriously, he's like the sun. His chakra shines forth so strongly, and it's full of life and growth. He tries so hard to keep us safe, and he always looks forward and never back. He's a healer at heart, trying to heal everything and everyone--”

“Sounds like an idiot,” Izuna mutters because—geez.

Tobirama smirks at him.

“I never said he wasn't.”

But then his expression turns solemn.

“He's our heart, you know? He's the heart of our clan, and I would do anything for him.”

And...Izuna can respect that.

“Even go on a suicidal mission to get your hand on a scroll only important to the Uchiha,” he mutters.

“Well, it wasn't suicidal when I started out...”

Tobirama stops, a sudden considering expression on his face.

Izuna pokes at him.

“Tobirama?”

-~&~-

That's it. That's the answer, isn't it?

It solves everything.

What had he said to Izuna back then?

_“No one ever trusts anyone, nothing is gained except a guarantee of death.”_

But what if...what if _he_ were to break that cycle of distrust?

It has to start somewhere. A show of good faith. Else they just keep on killing each other, again, and again, and again.

And if there is anyone to trust, it's the person he's currently stuck in a tunnel with.

It would solve their problems with the rations...and with their pursuers. Just enough chakra for one last large jutsu left. Devastating enough to take them all out. And if he goes back far enough...Izuna will be out of the damage zone, at the very least. He'll make it.

It has to be him. It can't be Izuna. He isn't able-bodied enough to do it as he is right now.

But...Anija.

He would be leaving Anija alone.

And Anija's dream...

“Izuna,” he asks his companion seriously.

The Uchiha glances at him.

“Yes?”

“If your clan is the stronger for now, if your clan isn't at a disadvantage...would you agree to my brother's proposals? Would you put forth your own voice and push Madara to accept?”

Izuna raises a questioning eyebrow at him.

“We aren't, though. I'm pragmatic enough to recognize it. The top three--”

“Just answer my hypothetical, Izuna, please.”

Izuna shrugs.

“I don't see why _you_ would want to have that kind of peace in that case, but yes, I wouldn't oppose it.”

For Anija's dream then. And even...for Izuna, who he's come to respect and like.

But Anija can never know. He'll cry if he knows and...and Tobirama would spare him that.

“I want you to promise me something, Uchiha Izuna.” He looks the man full in the eye.

Taken aback by his sudden seriousness, the Uchiha nods.

“If...if you find yourself agreeing to Anija's proposals, I want you to promise me that you'll never tell him why.”

The man blinks at him in confusion.

“That--”

“Promise! On your word as an Uchiha.”

“Okay! It seems like a weird thing to insist on of all things, especially since it would never happen, but...”

“Senju? Where are you going? Senju? Tobirama?!”

-~&~-

Izuna watches in shock, and then horror, as Tobirama runs back (back!) the way they came.

Cursing, he struggles to his feet and rushes after him, but without Tobirama here to help him, he can't keep up and is soon forced to stop.

“What is he thinking?!”

The samurai are back there. They may have a few days lead, but they aren't injured the way Izuna is.

...and neither is Tobirama. Which means...

_“If your clan is the stronger...would you put push Madara to accept?”_

_“If you find yourself agreeing to Anija's proposals, I want you to promise me that you'll never tell him why.”_

No.

It can't be.

Izuna pushes himself forward another few hours.

“Senju!” He calls out.

“Senju, you bloody bastard!”

“Senju, get back here!”

He's about to call out again, but the entire tunnel _shakes_ , and he hears the distinct sounds of water echoing along the tunnel.

Water...and screams.

No.

He falls to his knees, unheeding of the pain in his calf.

No.

Senju...

Tobirama...

But he's not a shinobi no mono to wallow in denial.

“We were supposed to get out together,” he whispers to the man he has come to respect and like.

There is no reply.

-~&~-

Hashirama's happiness when Madara accepts his proposals is dampened by his brother's absence. No one has seen Tobirama since his last mission.

And so, even though Hashirama attends the negotiations and celebrate the creation of a village with the Uchiha, even as his fondest dream is won, he thinks to his brother and wonders where Tobirama has gone.

He does take note that both Madara and Izuna are oddly solicitous of him, though when he questions them, they refuse to divulge why.

“Just remembering a friend,” Izuna replies one day after he's enticed Hashirama away from his paperwork to go to the Naka river and skip rocks.

“Aren't you always harping on me to finish the paperwork?”

Izuna snorts.

“Someone has to. And the most likely candidate isn't here.”

Madara of course, since he is on a personal mission. He wouldn't tell Hashirama what that personal mission was about, simply muttering something about paying back a debt and burning up plant monsters that set traps for brothers.

But, oddly enough, Hashirama doesn't think that's who Izuna was thinking about.

Ah well, let the younger Uchiha keep his secrets.

“It's too bad my brother isn't here to see this,” he murmurs. “He would scold me so much for skipping out on duties...”

He doesn't see it, but Izuna looks across to the other side of the river, in the direction of a neighboring country that had suffered gigantic sinkholes as the mining tunnels under it had mysteriously collapsed only a few scant years ago.

“Yeah, he would have.”

Hashirama returns to his paperwork later in the day and continues to send out small information gathering missions out of his own pocket thereafter. He is still searching for information on his missing brother.

He never finds any leads on his brother.

15 years later, Hashirama can feel his legs starting to stiffen. The change is upon him, and he will soon turn into a tree, the ultimate result of the Mokuton.

He gathers his affairs and puts in a recommendation for Uchiha Izuna to be named Nidaime. The council will vote...but his opinion carries weight. And Izuna is a solid choice. Temperate where Madara is hotheaded. And surprisingly fair, to Uchiha and Senju and the smaller clans alike.

Tobirama would have been friends with him, if they'd ever met outside of a battlefield, Hashirama muses.

And then he leaves.

He leaves and he wanders, searching for a place to sink his roots. Curiously, he finds himself drawn to that distant neighbor that had suffered mining collapses 17 years ago. And there, right above where the biggest sinkhole had been (now filled in with dirt and grass and new growth), Hashirama feels himself plant into the ground.

Just before his consciousness fades altogether, he can swear he feels his long-disappeared brother hugging him.


End file.
